After Sokov assigns the mission, he did not return to the ward immediately, but stays in the command center. He feels that since Vitkov is now his deputy, it is necessary to have a good chat with him and eliminate his knots in order to cooperate better in the future.
"Col. Vitkov, please sit down." Sokov said with a smile after he greeted Vitkov and said with a smile: "I think we should have a good chat."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Vitkov no longer called Sokov's name and military rank like he had just now, but called his post coldly and said, "If you want to say anything, please say it."
Sokov waited for Vitkov to sit down before he spoke, "Col. I know you have been demoted, so I must have emotions in my heart." Speaking of this, he deliberately paused for a moment to observe the other party's reaction. After hearing Vitkov snorting heavily, he continued, "Although I have been recuperating for half a month, I still know a little about the situation in the brigade. Under your command, the defenders of Mamayevgang have eliminated at least thousands of German soldiers, and at least fifty tanks, assault guns and armored vehicles they destroyed. In general, such a record is quite amazing."
Hearing Sokov affirming his achievements during this period, the expression on Vitkov's face became much softer, but when he thought of himself being demoted to deputy brigade commander for some reason, his dissatisfaction emerged again: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, since you think I have commanded well, why are you still so eager to restore your position?"
Vitkov's attitude was already as expected by Sokov. After he finished speaking, he said slowly: "Comrade Colonel, before you took over as brigade commander, we successively recruited some broken troops in the city, with a total of more than 4,600 people in the entire brigade. But in just half a month, the total strength of the brigade was sharply reduced to more than 1,500 people..."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I think such casualties are completely acceptable." When Vitkov heard this, he immediately couldn't wait to interrupt Sokov's words: "Some infantry divisions had seven or eight thousand people when they entered the city, but often after a week of battle, they were only a few hundred people left. The cruelty of the battle in the city was far beyond your imagination."
Sokov tried hard to control his emotions and said in a steady tone: "Comrade Colonel, my troops have been deploying defenses at Mamayev's hill since July. The purpose of doing this was to minimize the casualties of the troops in the cruel street battle..."
Vitkov interrupted Sokov again: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I want to remind you that the slogan of winning "being less blood" has been criticized by the Supreme Command as an incorrect slogan that guides the army to easily win after the end of the arduous and heavy Finnish battle.
As a commander, we must clearly realize that the war with Germany is long-term and arduous, so we must be mentally prepared to pay a huge price..."
Even the political commissar Berkin, who was standing by, could not find a reason to refute the views expressed by Vitkov. He could only shruggle at Sokov, spread his hands, and signaled that he could not help.
The phone ringing that was still ringing in time resolved the embarrassment in the house. Cidolin grabbed the microphone and said loudly: "I am Cidolin, where are you?... Oh, it's Captain Goria!... You are going to set off?!...Okay, I wish you good luck and return from completing the mission as soon as possible."
After putting down the phone, Sidolin said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Captain Goria and others are receiving equipment at the exit. They can set off in five minutes at most."
When Sokov suddenly felt a little uneasy when he learned that Goriya and the others were receiving equipment and making the final preparations before departure, he asked quickly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there will be no danger when they pass through the enemy's defense line, right?"
"I think it's not possible." Sidolin quickly glanced at Witkov when he said this and said, "Some time ago, the enemy was scared by our sneak attack tactics. Even at night, their alertness was very strict. The commands changed every two or three hours, causing great trouble to the scouts passing through the defense line. However, during this period, the enemy's alert seemed to be relaxed. The scouts we sent yesterday successfully passed through the enemy's defense line."
Sidolin's reaction was seen by Sokov, and his heart was as clear as a mirror. Sidolin's implication was that since Vitkov adjusted his tactics, the enemy saw that their rear had not been attacked again, so he relaxed his vigilance. In this way, Goria and his friends would have to smoothly pass through the enemy's defense line tonight, and there should be no problems.
Since Goriya and the others could pass through the enemy's defense smoothly, Sokov did not continue to worry about this matter. He ordered Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Major Yakov and ask when the new batch of rockets will be delivered. If we still have to send small teams to move deep behind enemy lines in the future, this kind of rocket is essential."
"I know, comrade comrade commander." Sidolin nodded and said, "I will arrange for the radio operator to send a message to Major Yakov to ask when the new rocket will arrive."
As the two were talking, a shout suddenly came from the door: "Misha, why are you here?"
Everyone looked at the door in the sound, and saw Asia, who was carrying the medicine box, standing at the door, looking inside. Seeing that it was Asia, Belkin quickly stood up and waved to her: "Asia, what are you doing at the door? Come in quickly."
Asia walked in slowly, looked at Belkin and asked, "I didn't bother you, are you?"
"Asia, look at what you said, how could it disturb us? We are also chatting." Belkin said with a smile: "Are you here to find comrade commander, right?"
Asia nodded and replied, "It's time for him to get an injection, but I went to the ward and didn't see anyone who was there. I asked the soldiers who were taking care of him, and then I realized that he was here." After that, she faced Sokov and said, "Misha, let's go back to the ward, don't affect other people's work here."
"Asia, my injury is almost healed. I won't go back to the ward from today." Sokov waved his hand to Asia and said, "I want to stay here to command the troops."
When Asia heard Sokov say this, she looked at Vitkov, who was sitting next to him without saying a word, and said to Sokov in a low voice: "Misha, you are not the brigade commander now, so why are you staying here?"
Witkov heard what Asia said clearly, tried to squeeze out a smile on his face, and said, "Asia, you may not know yet, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov returned to his position as brigade commander."
"What, Misha is the brigade commander again?" Asia was shocked by the unexpected news. She stared at Sokov and asked, "Misha, is this all true?"
"Yes, it's all true." Sokov nodded at her and said with a smile: "Now I am the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade again."
"When did it happen?" Asia looked at Vitkov on the side: "You have become the brigade commander again, what should Colonel Vitkov do? Will you go back to the Army Command?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov continues to serve as the brigade commander of the infantry brigade, which was the decision made by General Cuikov, the commander of the group army, half an hour ago." Weitkov said to Asia calmly: "After the officer of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov is restored, I will still stay here to serve as deputy brigade commander, and assist him in commanding the troops to protect Mamayev's hill."
…………
Although Sokov asked Goria to select ten soldiers to carry out sneak attack missions behind enemy lines, Goria found that the officers and soldiers in his battalion were so injured that it was difficult for them to gather enough people. In the end, only six people were selected, including him.
On the way to the enemy's defense line, Sergeant Taflin, who was in the translation work, asked with a bitter face: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy's defense line is closely guarded. Even if we wear German uniforms and ride German armored vehicles, it may not be easy to pass, right?"
Goria glanced at his subordinate and said expressionlessly: "Don't worry, Comrade Sergeant, based on reliable information, the German army's defense line has been relaxed recently, and we should be able to pass smoothly."
After hearing Goria say this, Tavlin was silent for a moment, and then asked: "Comrade Captain, I feel very strange. Since the new brigade commander took office, all operations behind enemy lines have been cancelled. How could he suddenly order us to go to the rear of the enemy today? Is there any conspiracy in this? Could it be that we will die?"
Taflin's words made Goria laugh: "Come on, comrade Sergeant, you are not a big shot, will anyone else make any conspiracy against you? Let me tell you the truth. This task was deployed by Lieutenant Colonel Sokov himself, and he returned to his position as brigade commander."
"What, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov has re-appointed our brigade commander?" Hearing Goriya say this, the other soldiers in the car surrounded him and asked in a verbal manner: "Comrade Battalion Commander, are you all saying true?"
"Will I still lie to you?" Goria pointed to the wooden box containing rockets in the carriage: "You all saw this wooden box. The brigade commander personally ordered people to prepare it for us, so that we could use this to bombard the enemy's command center."
"That's great, it's great." The soldiers were overjoyed after hearing that Sokov was re-appointed as brigade commander and said repeatedly: "The brigade commander is back to command us. I believe that our casualties will be greatly reduced in the next battle."
Chapter completed!